PM Rejects Rights for Gays

 Patricia Karvelas, Political correspondent September 13, 2007

JOHN Howard has told his partyroom gay and lesbian couples should not be given the same rights as defacto heterosexual couples.

Mr Howard was responding to backbencher Warren Entsch, who asked him to make a quick decision on the issue cabinet left to the Prime Minister's discretion three weeks ago.

Mr Howard told Mr Entsch in the Liberal partyroom meeting yesterday that the issue was "complicated" and he did not believe in giving gays and lesbians equal treatment.

Moderate federal Liberal MPs, including Mr Entsch, fellow Queenslander Peter Lindsay and Victorian Greg Hunt, have for the past two years pushed colleagues to end the legal discrimination of same-sex couple in key areas, such as superannuation and public service pensions.

The Australian Christian Lobby has been campaigning to stop the Howard Government and the Labor Opposition from granting same-sex couples full defacto relationship status.

Following a heated discussion in cabinet late last month, Mr Howard decided to make the final ruling on whether gays and lesbians would be given equal rights under commonwealth law. Conservative ministers had argued it was not a high priority and that they had been inundated by opposition to major reform.

Ministers were also concerned at the expense of reforms - millions of dollars in extra social security payments.

But Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Employment Minister Joe Hockey, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson and Attorney-General Philip Ruddock supported the reforms. Mr Turnbull and Mr Hockey are understood to have argued that with large numbers of gay voters in their Sydney electorates, Wentworth and North Sydney, reform could not be put off.

The package includes equal access to the Medicare safety net and the couples' rate threshold for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Under current laws, married or de facto heterosexual couples without children qualify for the 80per cent rebate under the Medicare safety net after reaching $716 in out-of-pocket expenses between them. A Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission report reveals 58 federal laws deny same-sex couples and families basic financial and work-related entitlements.